Digby pledge on business.

Byline: By Jonathan Walker POLITICAL EDITOR

DIGBY Jones has vowed to be an independent voice for business in the House of Lords after leaving Gordon Brown's government.

Lord Jones of Birmingham, a former head of the CBI, began his new role by calling for Britain to put forward the clocks permanently one hour, abandoning Greenwich Mean Time and bringing us into line with European countries such as France.

Speaking in the Lords, he said the reform would help British industry by putting it on the same time zone as customers and business partners in European firms.

It would also save lives on the roads by making it lighter on winter evenings, he said.

Lord Jones was made a peer for life when he joined the Government as a Business Minister last year but is under no obligation to attend Lords debates or remain active in Parliament now he has left the Government to return to work in the private sector.

But he said: "I want to take a very active role in the House of Lords. I want business to have a voice in the legislature of this country.

"It should be heard just as other groups are heard. There is already a role for trade unions, for representatives of health and education when laws are made."